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Converging the Modern Data Center Layers

The modern data center is truly evolving. As the central hub for all current cloud technologies – the data center platform must continue to be efficient, scalable, and optimized. As more users become mobile and as the enterprise evolves – data center demands will continue to grow. Cloud computing, both public and private, is already impacting how many organizations implement aspects of their IT platform. The promise of higher utilization rates and dynamic resource sharing is driving cost-conscious businesses to review how well existing IT platforms are serving them. With that in mind, implementing private cloud blindly without a full understanding of the interdependencies between the virtual and physical worlds will lead to high risks. This has to include the physical data center facility itself, as power distribution, cooling and other environmental monitoring aspects are key to ensuring the high availability of a shared platform.

This whitepaper from nlyte Software shows how new technologies are poised to make a direct impact on both the current and future data center model. In fact, software-defined technologies are already creating direct optimizations for data center platforms. Specifically, software-defined data center technologies helps facilitate the much-needed move towards an optimized, balanced service level-to-cost ratio approach - away from safe but expensive over-provisioning. However, SDDC tends to focus on the logical layers, neglecting the physical, and so opening up the platform to possible major issues. The emergence of cross-functional and inclusive tools begs a more holistic approach in how the data center should be measured, monitored and managed. This brings up the topic of complete data center infrastructure management (DCIM).

Remember, DCIM tools also provide the insights needed to provide solid ongoing value to the business through enhancing the lifecycle management of equipment, enabling better technical refreshes to be managed with little or no downtime to the business and to provide meaningful advice to the business as to what its options are when new workloads are needed to support the organization’s ongoing strategy. As the data center becomes more critical for the modern organization, key technologies like SDDC and DCIM will drive data center optimization. A truly efficient data center not only optimizes data control – it also positively impacts the end-user.